Clean Water News

As millions of Americans flock to beaches around the country, PennEnvironment reported that beach closings and warnings due to pollution dropped last year at Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie  The group called for increased federal funding and faster testing for beach-water pollution and decried efforts to open protected coastlines to offshore drilling.

Using data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches, tallied six beach closing and health advisory days in 2007 in Pennsylvania, an 85 percent decline from the year before. At Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie beaches, all of the closing and advisory days were due to elevated bacteria levels caused by stormwater pollution.

“Sadly, some families across the country can’t enjoy a day at the beach because the water is polluted and kids are getting sick,” said David Masur, PennEnvironment Director. “We applaud Pennsylvania for taking significant steps to reduce beach-water pollution and protect public health at our Lake Erie beaches.”

“I know firsthand that the stormwater pollution, poorly functioning septic systems, and run-off pollution that ends up in my district’s streams have a direct link to the e-coli problems in Lake Erie,” said state Representative John Hornaman. “As a state legislator, I’ve been working diligently to increase funding and promote policies that will protect Lake Erie since it’s such an important part of Pennsylvania’s natural heritage.”

In addition, PennEnvironment called for continued protection of Pennsylvania’s coastline from oil spills and slicks caused by offshore oil drilling. PennEnvironment pointed to a Bush administration analysis which concluded that opening currently protected offshore areas would have an “insignificant” impact on prices.

“This push for more drilling won’t do a thing to help America’s consumers, but will put our white sandy beaches at risk,” said Masur.  “Instead, we need the federal government to get behind a new energy future. That means pushing the Bush administration to fully implement fuel efficiency standards, creating incentives for plug in hybrid cars that can get up to 100 miles per gallon and investing in public transportation,” he added. 

For the first time, the Testing the Waters report gives a five-star rating for a selection of the most popular beaches in the nation. The star rating criteria is based on indicators of beach-water quality, monitoring frequency, and use of health standards to protect beachgoers.  In Pennsylvania, Beach 6 earned four stars for the low percentage of water samples exceeding national health-based standards, the frequency of monitoring, and posting advisories.

“Having grown up along the shores of Lake Erie, I learned to swim, water ski, fish, and boat in this most treasured resource,” stated Pennsylvania Representative Pat Harkins who represents the City of Erie. “I realize the impact this natural resource has for our entire region--not only for recreation, but also for business and industry. We all must be good stewards and protect our resource for generations to come.”

Across the country, the number of closing and advisory days at ocean, bay and Great Lakes beaches was more than 22,000 for the third consecutive year, confirming that America’s beaches continue to suffer from serious water pollution that puts swimmers at risk.

“Obviously the beaches along the Lake Erie shore not only provide for some of the finest recreation, natural or otherwise, in our country, but they also serve as an economic engine for Pennsylvania’s tourist industry,” said state Representative Florindo Fabrizio who represents a portion of Erie.  “Next to agribusiness, tourism is the second leading industry in the commonwealth.  As a former boater, a regular visitor to Presque Isle, and a cottage owner on the lake, I can assure you that we must continue to serve as guardians of this precious resource.  All of us representing the past, the present, and the future must remain vigilant in our efforts to preserve these natural wonders.”

While nationally there was an overall decrease in beach closing and advisory days from 2006, regionally the picture varied.

Overall, beach closing and advisory days at Great Lakes beaches were up one percent.

The report shows that the number of closing and advisory days due to sewage spills and overflows more than tripled to 4,097 from 2006 to 2007, but the largest known source of pollution continues to be contamination from stormwater, which caused more than 10,000 closing and advisory days.  Stormwater  Unknown sources of pollution caused more than 8,000 closing and advisory days. carries pollution from the streets to the beach without treatment whenever it rains.

Nationally, seven percent of beach-water samples violated health standards, showing no improvement from 2006. In the Great Lakes, 15 percent of beach-water samples violated those standards – the highest level of contamination of any coastal region in the continental U.S.

Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie beaches fared better than most of the other Great Lake beaches. The percent of samples exceeding health based standards decreased to 6 percent in 2007, down from 11 percent in 2006 and 8 percent in 2005.

Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie beaches with the highest percent exceedances in 2007 were Beach 1 (12%), Barracks BeachFreeport Beach (6%), Bundy Beach (4%), Water WorksBeach (4%), and Pettinato Beach (4%). (9%),

“What this report means for families heading to the beach is they need to be careful and do a little homework,” said Nancy Stoner director of NRDC’s clean water project. “Call your local public health authority and ask them if the beach-water is safe for swimming. If there is any doubt, or if the water smells bad or looks dirty, stay out of it.”

Aging and poorly-designed sewage and storm water systems hold much of the blame for beach-water pollution. PennEnvironment also said that sprawling overdevelopment in coastal areas is devouring wetlands and other natural buffers such as dunes and beach grass that otherwise would help filter out dangerous pollution before it reaches the beach.

Not only are the beaches polluted, the way they are tested is also failing the American public, according to PennEnvironment.  Beach water quality standards are more than 20 years old and rely on outdated science and monitoring methods that leave beachgoers vulnerable to a range of waterborne illnesses including gastroenteritis, dysentery, hepatitis, respiratory ailments and other serious health problems. For small children, senior citizens and people with weak immune systems, the results can be fatal.

The Beach Protection Act (H.R. 2537/S. 1506), a bill now pending in Congress, would provide more money for beach-water sampling and require the use of faster testing methods so people get timely information about whether it is safe to swim.  The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Beach Protection Act in April and the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on the bill in the near future. 

“We urge Senators Casey and Specter to support the Beach Protection Act and ensure America’s beaches are tested for pollution in time to protect public health,” said Masur.   

PennEnvironment also called on Congress to continue to protect U.S. beaches from offshore oil and gas drilling. Offshore drilling threatens beaches with chronic toxic pollution from oil and gas production and oil spills from the pipelines, tankers and barges that bring oil to shore.

The full report, go to http://www.nrdc.org/water/oceans/ttw/titinx.asp or at www.PennEnvironment.org.